Summary
Gerry Turner’s ego has been out of control since he was cast asThe Golden Bachelor,and he’s only gotten worse since he announced his divorce from Theresa Nist. The 72-year-old was living his life when ABC dropped the opportunity in his lap to lead the inaugural season ofTheBachelorspin-off, and he jumped at the chance. The season kicked off with Gerry meeting 22 incredible older women who had clamored for a chance to meet the highly eligible bachelor.The Golden Bachelorwas an instant hit for ABC and completely revitalized theBachelorNation franchise.
After an entertaining season of dates, tears, and moments of high drama, Gerry gave his final rose to 70-year-old Theresa. Carried away by their own romantic story, Gerry and Theresa were married a few short weeks after thefinale ofThe Golden Bacheloraired, but despite high hopes for the septuagenarian newlyweds,Gerry and Theresa announced their divorce only three months later. Though going through a public breakup may dampen some people’s egos, Gerry’s has grown since his divorce announcement.
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Gerry Thinks He’s A Big Star
And He’s Not Wrong
Though reality television is a gift from the entertainment Gods, it has often been known to turn largely undeserving people into celebrities. Much can be said about Gerry, butno one can ever accuse the man of being uninteresting or of not being entertaining enough. ThoughThe Golden Bachelorseason 1 can attribute its meteoric success to multiple factors, including an aging television audience that loves stories about themselves, Gerry’s charming telegenic qualities played a role in the show’s incredible reception, and Gerry knows it.
In May, just a few short weeks before announcing his divorce from Theresa,Gerryposted on Instagram about his Critics Choice “Male Star of the Year” nomination. He posted a screenshot of the nominees, with his name circled, among familiar names such as Alan Cumming, Eugene Levy, and RuPaul Charles. Gerry didn’t win, asthe award went to Alan Cumming for hostingThe Traitors,but just the fact that he was nominated is impressive.
Though many people in his comment sections were derisive of Gerry’s nomination, far more people graciously congratulated the divorced widower on the achievement.
Gerry’s Eying His Place In History
“HISTORY-MAKING”
In February, weeks after his ill-advised wedding to Theresa,Gerryposted a photo of an Emmy consideration magazine ad that featured a photo of Gerry under the words “HISTORY-MAKING.” The ad also mentions some of the other awards won byThe Golden Bachelorseason 1, including a DGA nomination for best reality program premiere and an AARP Movies For Grownups award for best reality series.
The post has 3.5K likes and Gerry’s post reads, “Is this a hint of things to come? We are open to possibilities.”
Sadly, Gerry was wrong, andthe inaugural season ofThe Golden Bachelordidn’t win any Emmy Awards in 2024, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the series was a huge ratings coup for ABC and Gerry.
Gerry’s Aware Of His Cultural Significance
He Was A Clue On Jeopardy
Gerry’s newfound fame extends far beyondThe Golden Bachelorseason 1, as the show seeped into the cultural zeitgeist. In February,Gerryposted a clip of himself coming up as a clue on the long-running and beloved game showJeopardy.It’s hard to tell from the soundless clip what the clue was, but Gerry was so excited about the moment he filmed the television with his phone camera.
As one fan in the comment section so succinctly put it, “You know you’ve made it when you’re on Jeopardy as one of the categories.”
It would be easy to criticize Gerry for enjoying his celebrity a little too much, but fame can be intoxicating for most people. It’s important to remember that Gerry lived in relative obscurity for over seven decades, so the change has been life-altering on every level. He went from being a retired widower living in a lakeside house in Indiana tobeing invited to dinner and aGolden Bachelorwatch party with the Kardashians, where Gerry was accused ofallegedly flirting with Kris Jenner.
Gerry Thinks He’s Hot Stuff
Many Women Think So Too
Gerry and Theresa settled their divorce recently, which has led to a great deal of speculation about their love lives. WhileTheresa has been lying low and spending time with her family and hobbies, Gerry has been more visible. Many were shocked when, in May, a few weeks after the divorce announcement,IndyStarreported Gerry was spotted at a local dating event for singles in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Though he appeared to be hosting the event, not participating, the optics were still terrible.
In June, Gerry spoke toTMZand revealed that, though he wasn’t yet ready to get back out into the dating field, he was being flooded withwomen sliding into Gerry’s social media DMsto express their romantic interest inThe Golden Bachelorseason 1 alum. He went on to say that, in addition to all the social media action,women were even approaching him in person to hand over their phone numbers.
Gerry said that though he accepted the phone numbers, he hadn’t reached out to any of the women yet.
Gerry maintained that he wasn’t ready to date again just yet, but when he was,he wanted everyone to know that he’d have plenty of romantic options. Though there’s little doubt that many women are interested in the attractive, gregarious Gerry, the fact that he would brag about being wanted is another example of Gerry’s ego running the show.
72 years old
Zodiac sign
First marriage
Toni Turner, 43 years
Second marriage
Theresa Nist, 3 months
The Golden Bachelor
Cast
The Bachelor returns to TV with The Golden Bachelor, a romantic reality competition series created for ABC. The show will focus on an older generation of hopefuls, with one senior male hoping to court and win the heart of one of several older female contestants.
